Michel Christian being produced at a CBI court in New Delhi. PTI Photo

Just a day ahead of crucial voting in Rajasthan and Telangana, the BJP accused the Congress of trying to "provide extended hand" to defend the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal and protect "the family" from the fallout of the investigation. The extradition of Christian Michel has rattled the Congress, said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.

To counter BJP’s attack on its proximity with Michel, the Congress named clients of at Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as if to settle the score.

Lashing out at the Congress, Patra said all three lawyers who appeared for Michel in court (including Youth Congress functionary Aijo K Joseph) had links with the Congress.

He also dismissed the party's decision to expel Joseph as a charade. Joseph appeared as Michel's lawyer on Wednesday and within hours of BJP's attack, the Congress sacked him from his post of legal head of India Youth Congress.

Patra said the Congress may have expelled him but he remains a lawyer for the accused as "10 Janpath" nominee and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi wants their own people to be in touch with Michel. He compared Joseph’s sacking to what the party did with Mani Shankar Aiyar -- suspended him last year but revoked his suspension in August this year.

Besides Joseph, one of the lawyers defending Michel is a member of the Congress' youth wing while the father of another is a party member, Patra claimed.

"Isn't this too much of a coincidence? Isn't the extended hand of the Congress working to protect the family?" he asked, adding that it is a clever move by the party to ensure that Michel is protected.

Congress sources admitted that Joseph was close to several senior Congress leaders from Madhya Pradesh. "In fact on Wednesday, when the spotlight was on Joseph, he was spotted at AICC headquarters, rushing into AICC in charge for MP Deepak Babaria’s room," said a party leader. Though no one is aware of his background, he is close to AICC Legal Department head Vivek Tankha.

On its part, the Congress said the BJP linking it with Christian Michel on the basis of an "expelled lawyer" is a case of the "pot calling the kettle black". Many top leaders of the ruling party have represented "fraudsters" in the past, Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill.

According to Shergill, if the BJP was linking the Congress with Michel on the basis of a lawyer, they should answer for Jaitley's family members taking fees from Punjab National Bank scam accused Nirav Modi, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad representing Subrata Roy, and Vasundhara Raje giving an affidavit in favour of Lalit Modi in London. He also said the BJP must give an answer to Jaitley representing stock broker Ketan Parekh.